The qualifications of individuals desiring certification will be reviewed by the Credentials Committee and must be approved before the candidates may take the certifying examination.

Application

Complete and send one copy of the ACLAM Examination Application Form and required submission inclusions to the Executive Director, Dr. Melvin Balk, 96 Chester St. Chester, NH 03036-USA. TEL- 603-887-2467, FAX 603- 887-0096. E-mail: mwbaclam@gsinet.net.

Exam application due dates:

• Early cycle - August 15: Applicant will have the determination letter in mid-September.
• Standard cycle - December 15: Applicant will have the determination letter in mid-January.
• Late cycle- March 15: Applicant will have a determination in mid-April.
  

Future ACLAM Exam Dates starting in 2024

The ACLAM exam has historically been approximately two weeks before the annual AVMA meeting. (Unless this falls on the July 4^th weekend, then it is three weeks). The reason for this timing is that the BOD meets at the time of the AVMA meeting, and our Exam Committee and Exam Consultants need two weeks to analyze the data, do statistics and provide a final report to the BOD on the outcome.

As the BOD no longer meets in person at the AVMA but does sit virtually and based on feedback from many Training Program Directors the future exam date will be held on the second Monday of July each year starting in 2024.

The Summer BOD meeting will be two weeks later on a Sunday. This allows time for our Exam Committee and Exam Consultants to review the questions, analyze the data, do statistics, and provide a final report to the BOD on the outcome.

The application fee must be paid before submitting your application.

The preferred method to submit your application is scanned and sent as one PDF to the Executive Director. NOTE: please separate the application from the photo. Send to: mwbaclam@gsinet.net

Fees

Payments are submitted online.

Application: $200      Required to process application. Nonrefundable.
Examination: $650    Submit once application is approved.

NOTE: One is entitled to take the examination up to a maximum of three times during the next three years after becoming Board eligible. Failure to successfully pass the exam after three consecutive attempts results in one no longer being ACLAM Board eligible and will require that you submit another application, pay another application and examination fee, and pass the examination before you can be certified as a Diplomate. Opting out of the exam for other than a medical emergency or in the case of the military an overseas deployment will result in the loss of that year of eligibility.

Candidate Guide

Click here to access the Candidate Guide for the ACLAM Certification Exam.

Certification Examination Information

Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd Edition

The 3rd edition of Laboratory Animal Medicine is currently available in electronic format, with the hard cover version available soon.

Exam Material Cut Off Date

The annual ACLAM Exam may contain questions on materials from any relevant publications up to Dec 31 of the year prior to the exam (Dec 31, 2014 for the 2025 exam).

ACLAM Policy on Taking the Exam

One is entitled to take the examination up to a maximum of three times during the next three years after becoming Board eligible. Failure to successfully pass the exam after three consecutive attempts results in one no longer being ACLAM Board eligible, and will require that you submit another application, pay another application and examination fee, and pass the examination before you can be certified as a Diplomate. 

Opting out of the exam for other than a medical emergency for you or someone in your immediate family or in the case of the military an overseas or short notice deployment will result in the loss of that year of eligibility.

Recent Exam Pass Rates

Study Tools

  ACLAM Test Template
  2025 Certification Exam Reference List
  Role Delineation Document
  2024 ACLAM Exam Resources and Dates

NOTE: The USDA APHIS Animal Care Policy Manual is currently Under Review and thus not available on the USDA APHIS website. Given the current status, questions pertaining to the Animal Care Policy will not be included in the 2020 ACLAM Examination. Additionally, the Rat in Biomedical Research Vol 3 and the soon to be published Zebrafish in Biomedical Research will not be used for the 2020 exam.

NOTE: Starting in the 2022 ACLAM exam year, journal article questions could have a single reference based on recent publications from 3 years directly preceding the exam. These questions will begin with the prompt “In a recent journal article……”  Single reference journal questions will be limited to less than 5% of the exam material. All single reference questions will directly align with the Role Delineation Document-RDD.

Sample Computer-Based Exam Format:

You will find below the link to the sample exam. This sample exam demonstration will assist in understanding how IQT's computer-based test system works. Candidates can easily navigate through the questions, display their time remaining, log their answers by clicking directly on the responses, clicking onto the radio buttons, or simply using their keyboard. The system also provided the candidates bookmarking and comment functions. Click here for sample exam.